Referring now to FIG. 1, a scroll or tape 1, bearing a number of banners or signs that is alternately wound back-and-forth between a pair of rotatably mounted rollers 2, 3 are commonly used on chart recorders, advertising displays and other devices where information must be continuously or intermittently displayed.
These devices typically suffer from size constraints. Since essentially the entire scroll is at some time wound exclusively on one of the two rollers, each roller must be capable of bearing the weight of an entire scroll of multiple banners, and the apparatus housing 4 must be large enough to accommodate both rollers having the scroll fully wound thereon. In particularly large banner displays with banner widths exceeding several feet, the weight and cumulative tension of the fully wound scroll may cause the roller to bend in the center since it is usually rotatively supported on spindles at either end. This in turn causes unequal rolling and tensioning of the scroll which causes it to prematurely wear out. Combating this problem by strengthening the roller structure usually costs too much and increases the overall size of the apparatus beyond acceptable limits.
It would therefore be desirable to have a lightweight, inexpensive banner display device which has a shallow outer dimension and which is capable of displaying portions of scrolls of great length and width without undue cost or premature scroll wear out.